The present invention is directed to bicycle control devices and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for shifting a bicycle transmission.
Electrically controlled bicycles usually include a front transmission associated with the front pedal assembly, a rear transmission associated with the rear wheel, a motor for each transmission, a control unit for controlling each motor, and a shift control device such as a lever or switch that provides electrical shift command signals to the control unit. The control unit operates the motors for each transmission based on the electrical signals received from the shift control device. In known electrically controlled bicycles, the transmission increases or decreases only one speed stage or gear for each shift command received from the shift control device, and the front or rear transmission operates at least once for each shift command. This can substantially delay the speed change operation and create considerable mechanical noise and wear on the components if the rider wants to shift multiple speed stages at one time.